There will soon be a new mayor of this riverside Saratoga County city, but no matter who is elected he won't be an unfamiliar face to people here.

Two well-known lifelong city residents in their mid-60s are vying for the mayoral seat that will be vacated by current mayor Anthony Sylvester, who can't run again because he will have served his two-term limit when January rolls around.

Sylvester, a Democrat, could have an in-party replacement in Jim Peluso, a 64-year-old Vietnam veteran who worked as the city's finance commissioner in the 1980s.

The Republican challenger is Dennis Baker, 65, who was on the city's police force for 20 years and still serves as a volunteer firefighter.

Both candidates are focused on getting the city back on the right track fiscally. Many local municipalities are struggling in this economy, but Mechanicville had the undesirable distinction of getting slammed by a state audit. Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli's report, which was issued in February, said city officials kept "extremely poor" records, prompting unrealistic budgets and poor allocation of monies.

Peluso said his time as finance commissioner gives him an ideal background. "I'm looking forward to handling our city's finances with integrity, making sure we have independent audits regularly and keep taxes low," he said.

Peluso, who was wounded in combat, worked for years with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and now is a director of operations for Soldier On Inc., which provides homes to veterans. He said those experiences have shaped his ability to work with people who have a broad array of needs.

Baker says the city needs to be run more like a successful business. "We can't keep doing things we can't afford to pay back," Baker said. "We need to figure out what our figures actually are and build a real budget."

To help with the fiscal recovery, Baker said he'd make sure budget figures were easily accessible and known at all times. This was an issue in past administrations, Baker said.

Baker said his decades in the police and fire departments give him unique insight into how those programs work and what can be carefully trimmed from their budgets without sacrificing public safety.

"Both are vital to our city," said Baker, who after his police career oversaw loss prevention for local Hannaford groceries. "But I think we can get a look into their budgets and cut a little. We need to save wherever we can."